Indy Fatal Motorcycle Crash: Cop Rebooked

Although the blood-alcohol results of an Indianapolis police officer involved in a deadly motorcycle crash were initially declared inadmissible, they were refiled in court on Friday.

Police officer David Bisard, 36, had new DUI charges filed against him. Bisard stayed out of jail and pleaded not guilty to the new round of drinking and driving charges.

In October, an Indian University law professor said there is merit in re-filing the test results that show Bisard was intoxicated while on duty when he struck three motorcyclists on Aug. 6, killing one of them.

Bisard submitted the blood sample two hours after the motorcycle crash, and was found to have a level of 0.19 percent. The alcohol-related charges were dropped in late August after Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said police didn’t follow proper protocol while obtaining the results.

The AMA reported that Bisard was initially charged with seven felony counts of drunk driving and reckless homicide. But prosecutors chose to drop the drunk driving charges after it was revealed that investigators at the scene did not follow proper procedures for conducting a blood draw for a sobriety test after the motorcycle wreck.

So even though the test results revealed that Bisard had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 – or more than twice the 0.08 limit to be considered legally drunk in Indiana – those results can’t be used in court.

Dropping the drunk driving charges left the original reckless homicide charge, which is a Class C felony that carries a penalty of two to eight years in prison. Prosecutors then added the two new criminal recklessness charges, which are Class D felonies and carry maximum penalties of three years in prison.

The charges stem from the Aug. 6 motorcycle crash in Indy in which Bisard crashed his patrol car into the back of two stopped motorcycles and narrowly missed a third, killing motorcyclist Eric Wells, 30, and critically injuring Kurt Weekly, 44, and his passenger, Mary Mills, 47.

Bisard, a canine officer, reportedly was responding to a request for help from other officers on a felony warrant when the 11:20 a.m. crash occurred. Officials said he had his emergency lights on and siren blaring at the time.

The motorcyclists were stopped in traffic at the intersection of 56th Street and Brendon Way South Drive when the motorcycle crash occurred. Investigators believe Bisard was traveling at least 65 mph when he slammed on his brakes to try to avoid hitting the motorcyclists.